Elemental: Guardians
by Myra the Sark
Summary: When Core-Tech is rescued from the desert by a group who call themselves the Elementals, it seems they've found some trustworthy allies at last. But their enigmatic leader Imari and her subordinates Cyril, Saurian, Moeru, Featherbreeze, Darkshade, and Wavewhisker seem to be hiding something. Where does their power come from? And how do they know about the Prophecy of the Five?
1. Chapter I: Found 発見

**To those who have read this before, be sure to read it again! I changed something that mixes it up big-time! ~Myra  
**

* * *

The sun was beating down ruthlessly on the Alto Desert that day. Most people who wandered into the desert's unforgiving clutches didn't ever come back. But three people were out in the desert, on a vehicle that looked like a cross between a jeep and a hovercraft—built as such in order to not sink in the deep sand.

Amazingly enough, the three people all looked no older than young teens. Two were identical brown-haired children, although one was clearly a girl while the other was a boy. The last was a black-haired girl who looked perhaps a year older. She was looking around with binoculars, as were the other two.

The boy sighed. "Lieutenant Irera, why do _we_ have to come out here? It's so _hot_," he complained.

"Miyu, it's routine. You should've been told that when you signed up for the 7th Division."

"We were," his sister, Miya, said. "But Captain Wavewhisker said that we wouldn't have to do it yet."

"Well, Captain Wavewhisker is as new as you are," Irera replied, suddenly stopping in looking around. "Hello," she muttered, zooming in. "What have we here?"

There were five people collapsed onto the sand, most likely from heat exhaustion. All were teenagers. Are those people?" Miya asked, also looking.

"Yep. We better get them back to base before they cook…if they haven't cooked already."

* * *

Everything was a giant blur when Chase opened his eyes. First thing he realized was that he wasn't in the Alto Desert anymore. He was on a bed, and a wooden ceiling came into focus. First thing he _heard_ was water trickling beside him, and he turned his head to see a small ledge-like structure set into the wall, also made of wood, water trickled from a pipe and onto the ledge-thing, and a cup was next to it. First thing he did was get some water, which he downed in three-point-five seconds.

One his throat felt less raw, he looked around to see the other four—Bren, Jinja, Beyal, and Dax—also on beds, and more ledge-fountains. _Where are we?_ Chase looked around some more. Now he saw cabinets with canisters of medicine-looking stuff, and everything had a strange crest on it—a white-gold-and-violet wolf with wings outspread. He looked, and saw that his jacket was on a desk, as well as Dax's, the Core-Tablet, Bren's glasses and bag, Dax's hat, and Beyal's cloak.

He then noted that all their cores were missing.

Chase sat up quickly, only to fall back down as a wave of dizziness rushed over him. He heard a door slide open, and a voice say, "Oh, you're alive."

He turned his focus, and saw that it was a man who looked maybe twenty or such with raven-black hair and violet eyes. "I thought all of you were already dead when Lieutenant Irera brought you in. Of course, I'm still not sure about your friends…"

And at that moment Bren sat up, saying, "Who's there?"

"Bren!" Chase exclaimed.

"Chase? Where—where are my glasses?"

The man picked them up and placed them on the geek's face; said geek blinked a few times and then yelped. "Don't worry," the man said. "I'm a friend. My name's Darkshade. As for where you are, you're in the 6th Division Station…AKA, the infirmary."

_Darkshade? That's a weird name. And 6th Division of _what_?_

As if Darkshade knew what he was thinking, he said, "And where I come from, names like mine aren't so uncommon. I'll go and get you some food, since I'm guessing you're hungry."

He left, and Chase instantly said, "B, our cores are gone."

"What?" Bren checked his belt, and looked at the table, and said, "Who took them?"

"No idea."

He then heard a groan from Jinja, who said, "What happened?"

"I think we passed out in the desert," Chase replied.

"Chase Suno, I told you crossing the Alto Desert _on foot_ was a horrible idea!" she scolded after taking a quick drink at the same time as Bren.

"Jin, you know that the desert's three miles in every direction from the center and wheeled vehicles can't cross it 'cause the sands are so deep," Bren reasoned, taking another sip of water.

She huffed, crossing her arms. Then: "Beyal?" She stood and shook the white-haired boy.

Beyal opened his eyes halfway, saying, "Where are we?"

"Some kind of medical ward," Bren said as Dax also sat up, grabbing his hat and putting it on.

"Oh, and Dax? You _don't_ have any gum in your hair," Jinja said with a smirk.

The door then opened again, and Darkshade came back into the room, somehow balancing five trays of delish-looking food. "Straight from 5th Division Captain Featherbreeze herself," he said with a smirk. The expression on Bren's face was priceless. Amazingly, same with Jinja—though she seemed to be looking at Darkshade. "So…what are your names?"

"My name's Chase," Chase introduced. The others followed up. "We've been traveling together."

"So it seems. Tell me—why were your crossing the Alto Desert? Don't you know how dangerous it is out there?"

"Well…yeah," Chase said sheepishly. "It's just—well…"

"You're looking for someone?" All of Core-Tech looked up in shock. How did he know? Darkshade tilted his head a bit to one side. "You seem like you're trying to find someone. A parent, perhaps?"

"Yeah…my dad," Chase said slowly.

Darkshade nodded, as if his thoughts had been confirmed. "Just to let you know, we found him—Jeredy, if I remember right—in a similar state last week."

"Seriously?!" Chase exclaimed. "W-Where is he? Can I see him?"

The violet-eyed man chuckled. "Be patient." He then got a serious look on. "There's one thing you five should know about. We noticed that you had Monsuno cores with you, Core-Tech brand by the look of it." All of them froze. Darkshade continued, "You see, we, the Elementals, have a policy…whoever we find in possession of a core must stay and assist us as _secvareī_."

"What?!" all of them exclaimed.

"Well that's a load of crag!" Dax yelled.

Darkshade's violet eyes narrowed at the Lowlander. "I'm not the one who makes the rules. Our Captain-Commander does."

"Well, you can tell this Captain-whatever person that we're not interested," Chase said, standing. "Now, give our cores back, and we'll get out of your way."

"Do you _really_ think you can survive out in the Alto Desert with no supplies?"

Chase froze. Darkshade was right. They were trapped.

After a long minute of silence, he sighed heavily. "Fine," he muttered. "We'll stay."

"Good. I'll inform the Captain-Commander, and you'll be assigned to your Divisions by tomorrow. Expect to receive schedules at eight-thirty sharp. Miya and Miyu here will lead you to where you'll be staying for now, as I have business to attend to."


	2. Chapter II: Elemental City エレメンタル市

The situation stunk, to say in the least. _Stuck helping some people we don't know a thing about,_ Chase snarled silently as he and the others left the room. _At least my dad's here, though…_ They were instantly greeted by two kids who looked about two years younger than him, both with brown hair and blue eyes. Obviously they were twins. "Hi! I'm Miya!" the girl said energetically. "This is my brother Miyu!"

"We're twins, as you can see," the boy said in a calmer tone, his expression clearly saying he was embarrassed. "We'll show you guys around."

Nothing could have prepared Chase for what he saw next. The door leading out of the medical department opened, leading out to a clearing with six other similarly-built buildings but with different color schemes. After that there was a ledge that wound its way down about ten feet to a road, which led to…

A city. A whole underground _city_. In a humongous cavern, the ceiling studded with glowing crystals that made it seem like the sky. Each building only reached about two stories up, but some were on raised parts of the cavern, making them look higher up than they really should be. One sector appeared to be houses, and another appeared to be a marketplace. But in the center of it all was one very important-looking building. "That over there is the housing area, for the civilians," Miyu said.  
"So this _is_ a city," Bren said, sounding like something had been confirmed—which it had.

Miya nodded. "Yep. Me and Miyu used to live in the _Cvara_ Sector, until we were recruited into the 7th Division. Captain Wavewhisker's really fun, and he's a year younger than we are! Now we live in the 7th Division Station, which is there with all the other Stations. Over there is the marketplace, and you should know what goes on there. The Sark lives there too, though."

"Sark?" Jinja questioned.

Miyu picked up the sentence. "You'll probably get to meet her sometime later this month, especially if you're put in the 4th Division. You guys'll be assigned to Divisions and Stations overnight, and you'll go there in the morning."

"Hold on," Jinja asked. "Will we all be together?"

"Probably not," Miyu said, sounding a bit regretful. "Miya and I were placed together at Captain Wavewhisker's order, since we have twin Monsunos."

"Twin Monsunos?" Beyal exclaimed, looking profoundly shocked. They looked first at him, and then at the twins.

"What are you kids talking about?" Dax asked.

In response, Miya and Miyu each held up a core. But the cores were purple, the seal of the Elementals on them.

* * *

"So that's them, talking with Miya and Miyu?" the 2nd Division Captain, Cyril, asked, looking down from the Captains' Meeting Room from the small inlet on the ceiling of the cavern while brushing some of her ice-blue hair out of her eyes.

"Yes," Darkshade said, also looking.

"They certainly look capable," 4th Division Captain Moeru complimented.

"_Everyone_ looks capable to you, Moeru," the 3rd Division Captain Saurian said. "But I'm not sure if you mean the same 'capable' when it comes to the girl."

"Saurian, you always have your nose in either a book or your laptop. What do you know about seeing someone who looks capable?" There was a pause. And then he said, "_Hey_! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Well I know _you_ certainly aren't capable of anything. And everyone knows you're a total flirt," Saurian egged on.

"Why you—!"

"Cut it out you two!" Cyril scolded. "Darkshade, where're Featherbreeze and Wavewhisker?"

"Right here!" A girl who looked about 16 with pale-blond hair and hazel eyes dashed into the room, followed closely by a boy who looked to be only 12.

"Sorry we're late. What are we looking at?" Wavewhisker asked, before he and Featherbreeze followed everyone's gazes.

"Are those the _secvaraī_?" Featherbreeze asked.

"Yes, Featherbreeze," Saurian said, rolling his eyes. "Those are the ones that Miya, Miyu, and Lieutenant Irera found." Then the green-haired man frowned a little. "Huh. That boy looks like Jeredy. Is that his son, maybe?" Darkshade nodded in response.

"Wait, did you say _Lieutenant Irera_?" Wavewhisker exclaimed. "She never goes anywhere!"

"That's what you think, kid," Moeru said. "The Captain-Commander makes her do more stuff than you know."

"And how do _you_ know? Only Cyril sees the Captain-Commander!"

The said Captain groaned, while Saurian said, "We _all_ only meet up once every three months. Now, back to the topic—which Divisions do the _secvaraī_ get put in? I'll take the one with glasses."

"Eh, I'll take the kid wearing the hat," Moeru said with a shrug.

Cyril looked down thoughtfully, and said, "I think I'll take one of them into my Division, actually. They look like they has spunk, and that's what my Division needs right now."

"_You_ taking a _secvara _into your oh-so esteemed 2nd Division?" Moeru gasped, before bursting out laughing. Only to have Cyril elbow him in the ribs _hard_. "Ow!"

Darkshade sighed, and said, "I'm thinking about the boy who looks like the leader."

"You sure that's a good idea? It seems he doesn't like you that much," Cyril commented.

Darkshade grunted in response. Then he said, "Featherbreeze? Wavewhisker? What about you?"

"I dunno…" Wavewhisker mused.

"Well, maybe you should take the one with the white hair, Darkshade," Featherbreeze suggested. Then she squinted. "You know, he looks sorta like Captain-Commander Imari, actually."

She blinked when everyone was staring at her. "What? Did I say something?"

* * *

"So…you two have Monsunos that have the same exact animal DNA," Jinja confirmed.

Miya nodded. "Yup. It happens often here."

"And…how long have you had these Monsunos?"

"Only for two weeks. You get assigned one if you join a Division, or if you're drafted into one," Miyu explained. "Which does happen on very rare occasions, in case one Division…is reduced in amount of members." Chase didn't like the way Miyu's tone sounded at the last part.

"And what's this whole 'twin Monsuno' thing?" Bren asked.

"A twin Monsuno is a very special case," Beyal cut in. "When two Monsunos share part of the same DNA, they are more powerful when around each other."

"Well that's interesting," Chase said. "But how do you know for sure if two Monsunos are twins?"

"Like this," Miyu said, and he and Miya held their cores close together. And at once, the purple cores started glowing brightly. "And you only told part of it, Snowy. There are two types of twin Monsunos: pure and partial. Fangclaw and Clawfang are pure twins—meaning their animal DNA is exactly the same. Most twins are partial."

"That's pretty cool," Jinja said, though she looked a little distracted. Chase blinked, and followed where she was looking, and saw the reason.

Darkshade and someone else were coming toward them. The person he was with was a woman with ice-blue hair and eyes to match, and she was wearing a black-purple suit like Darkshade and a blue scarf that had a strange marking on it. Miya and Miyu both instantly straightened.

"Captain Cyril and Captain Darkshade," Miya exclaimed. "We were just explaining what twin Monsunos were to these guys."

"That's a smart thing to do," the lady—Cyril?—commented. She then looked over Core-Tech. For a moment, her gaze lingered on Beyal, and then she looked at Chase. "I take it you're the leader of this little group? What's your name?"

"Chase."

"That's a nice name. I'm Cyril…2nd Division Captain. Chances are one of you will be getting placed in my Division. And I'll let you know, I don't often choose a _secvara_."

Darkshade said, "Now then…Miya, Miyu, bring them to the _uquírak_ now, please."

"Yes sir!" the twins said while saluting, and then they started off.

When they were out of earshot of the two captains, Bren asked, "Uh, what's an _uquírak_? And a _secvara_?"

"_Uquírak_? It's the name of the building that _secvaraī_ stay in. _Secvaraī_ is plural for _secvara_, by the way."

"Um…" Now Jinja spoke. "I know a lot of languages, but…I don't recognize either of those words."

"Oh! That's because we have our own language we use," Miyu said, looking as if they'd cleared something. "It takes a while to learn, but once you do, it sticks fast and hard."

"Aw crag," Dax muttered. "So we have to get _schooled_, too?"

"Yep. All the paperwork from a Division member is expected to be written in Lupine, except for a _secvara_'s paperwork."

Miya and Miyu totally ignored the incredulous looks they got from Team Core-Tech.


	3. Chapter III: Sorted 並べ替え

Chase had fallen asleep feeling uneasy, and he knew he wasn't the only one. The _uquírak_ was a building located close to the Division stations, and was really nothing but a lobby and a floor of bedrooms—apparently they didn't have too many "_secvaraī_," whatever that meant. They'd had to state their names to the receptionist in the lobby (first and last names, and they'd all been interested in learning Dax's last name, Martinez), and then had been sent to the one room that they'd all been crammed into, due to there only being one floor of rooms.

It seemed to have only been a minute when he heard a bell ringing, and he sat bolt upright, as did the others. Outside the ceiling crystals—called _kuweì_—had started to change to a pale-blue. Before they had crashed, they'd noted that most of the crystals had changed colors to a deep midnight-blue or violet, while others glew softly white: an imitation of the night sky.

"Look at this," Jinja said. Chase looked, and saw that some clothes had been left at the foot of his bed, folded neatly. Silence went on for about half a minute, before Jinja said, "I'll go change first," before grabbing the ones left for her and going into the single restroom attached to the bedroom. It wasn't long before all of them had changed.

The outfit was a simple deep-purple shirt, black pants, and a belt looking like it was meant to hold three cores at a time. Dax kept looking himself over, as well as Bren. Beyal just looked plain weird wearing it. Suddenly the slot in the door clanked, and five scrolls with a wax seal showing the crest of the Elementals and names written on them were dropped into the room. "I guess this is it," Dax said, picking the one that his name was on up.

They each picked up theirs, and sat on the floor near each other. "Who first?" Chase asked.

"I'll go," Jinja said, breaking the wax and opening it. She looked over it, and said, "7th Division, headed by Captain Wavewhisker and Lieutenant Miyu." She looked up, holding a dark-blue scarf with a strange symbol on it, perhaps representing the number 7. "I guess I'll be with Miya and Miyu, then."

Dax tore the seal off his without a word, and a red scarf fell onto the floor. "4th Division, Captain Moeru and Lieutenant Ashtail." He blinked and muttered, "_Ashtail_?"

Bren opened his, and held up a green scarf. "Um, 3rd Division, Captain Saurian and Lieutenant Zephyr."

Beyal followed, and held up a violet scarf. "6th Division. Lead by Captain Darkshade and Lieutenant Lilinette."

_Oh great,_ Chase thought, remembering the man that had told them that they'd have to stay._ Guess it's my turn._ He opened his slowly. A light-blue scarf was there, and it read:

**2nd Division**

**Captain: Cyril**

**Lieutenant: Roy Stoker**

**To: Chase Suno**

**You have been accepted into the 2nd Division. I expect you to report at nine-o-clock sharp. **

He read it aloud. He also noted that the lieutenant of this Division was the only person who had a last name mentioned.

Silence went on. Then Bren wailed, "They split us up!"

"Miyu did say that it was likely," Beyal said quieter than usual.

"Well, it says that we have to wear our scarves and report to our Division station by nine," Jinja said, tying her dark-blue scarf around her neck, trying to sound optimistic—and failing at it horribly. "We better go." They went out silently, and followed the path in silence.

"Well, we're all pretty much in the same place, so I bet we'll still be able to see each other, guys," Chase then said optimistically at the entrance to the Station Sector. Various levels of response reached him, and they each turned and entered the stations they were assigned to.

* * *

As soon as Dax went in, he was instantly greeted by a tall white-haired guy with a red streak in his hair and vermillion-colored eyes. "I take it you're my _secvara_?" he asked.

"If your name's Moeru, then yeah."

Moeru quirked one eyebrow, and he said, "That's 'Captain Moeru' or 'Sir' to you, Dax Martinez."

Dax's face flushed, and he said, "Yes…sir."

* * *

Beyal was greeted in a similar way by Darkshade. "I'll let you know now, this is also the medical division," the violet-eyed Captain explained. "Do you have any experience with medicine?"

"Yes," Beyal said. "I know much about the herbs in Mandala."

"Mandalan herbs? Good—we know practically nothing about stuff there. Where are you from in Mandala, exactly?"  
Normally Beyal would not have answered. But something told him that Captain Darkshade could be trusted. "I am from the Library of Tebab."

Darkshade's eyes widened. "Tebab? Huh. That's unusual." Quieter, he muttered, "Saurian's gonna be interested to hear that," thought Beyal didn't know what he meant by it. "Well, in any case, welcome to the 6th Division, Beyal. And if you could follow me, please…"

Jinja already knew that Captain Wavewhisker was young. But she hadn't expected him to be a _twelve-year-old_. "So your name is Jinja Blackwell, right?" he said.

"Uh-huh."

"Okay. And I know you know Miya and Miyu, right?"

"Uh-huh."

The blue-haired boy nodded. "Okay. We're a new team, but that doesn't mean people should underestimate us, right?"

"Right." Playing the "polite" card seemed to be getting her somewhere.

"Okay, well, here are your Monsunos." He pulled a tray from his desk, and Jinja not only saw both Charger and Whipper, but a purple core as well.

* * *

Captain Saurian had led Bren into a large room. "Alright Mr. Rainier," he said. "Now spin the purple core out, please."

Bren looked at it. Not only had the green-haired man given Quickforce and Longfang back, but had also given him a purple Elemental core. "Launch!" he exclaimed, spinning it. It clanged against the wall, and there was a flash of violet.

When it cleared, the Monsuno that stood resembled a wolf. It shook itself, highlighting the lavender streaks, and its crystalline claws scratched the floor slightly. "Her name is Wolfclaw," Saurian said.

"_Her_?"

"Every single Monsuno has a place in our databases—which is why you had to wait until now to get your cores back, since we had to identify and register them. As 3rd Division, we're in charge of everything technology-related, seeing as I _am_ Head of R&D here." Bren's eyes lit up at that. Saurian smirked. "I take it technology is your talent, correct?"

"Yes sir!"

The Captain's smile widened. "I knew I was right in picking you."

Bren had also been in for a surprise as soon as he had walked into the 3rd Station, returning the exact look of a man who was staring slack-jawed at him. Jeredy was also part of the 3rd Division.

* * *

"So, Chase," Cyril said, looking him over. "I know I met you last night."  
"Yes ma'am."

She smiled. "So polite," she teased. "I'm not as strict as the others, even though I head the 2nd Division. Chase, this here is my Lieutenant, Roy Stoker."

The said man smiled and waved. He had red hair and blue eyes. But something on him caught Chase's attention. He had a STORM core.

Roy saw his glance, and said, "Oh, this? This here is Seafox. Before you ask, I am a _former_ STORM Elite. They're the ones that chose to leave me behind in the desert. Nice to meet you, Chase. Lemme tell you, you look just like your dad…except for your eyes, that is."

"A lot of people tell me that," Chase said. Roy seemed friendly enough.

Cyril then said, "Chase, Miya and Miyu explained to you what twin Monsunos were, right?"

"Yeah…why?"

She smirked a little, and took a purple core out. "This here is my Monsuno, Crystalfrost."

Chase blinked, confused.

She looked at him, and said, "I'm showing you this because…well, it seems that your Lock is a partial twin to my Monsuno, through polar-bear DNA."


	4. IV: Captain-Commander Imari イマリ総隊長

After two days, Chase wanted to smash his head against the desk he was given. _Gah! Why can't this Captain-Commander guy use plain English?!_

"I don't really understand the Captain-Commander's tastes either, Suno," Roy said, fingering Seafox's core.

Seafox was his STORM-issued Monsuno—a fox-porpoise hybrid that was _way_ friendlier than most STORM Monsunos he'd seen. His other Monsuno, Tigerwhip, was an Elemental.

One thing Chase now knew for certain. Paperwork was _torture_. He didn't get as much as the others, but seeing as he was 2nd Division, he still got a bit more than most _secvaraī_. At least there were a few pros of being 2nd Division, though—for one, they got good food. And seeing as the 2nd Division was also the Stealth Squadron, he could sneak up on the others as quiet as an owl in flight—something he had tested on Dax. Thank God that their Captains and Captain Featherbreeze let them have an hour and a half together in the 5th Division Training Hall. As it turned out, his father was part of Saurian's division. Very fitting. Although Chase was slightly sour over it.

"You know what?" Roy said suddenly. "Why don't we head to the marketplace? You've never been there yet, so it'll be a good experience."

* * *

Jinja looked blankly at her Elemental core. She hadn't had a chance to spin it out yet—her schedule had been too tight. After all, the 7th Division was only her, Miya, Lieutenant Miyu, and Captain Wavewhisker. "Go on," Miya said. "Spin it out!"

Taking a deep breath, Jinja did as such, yelling, "Launch!" The violet core spun across the room, coming in contact with the wall on the far end. A bright flash went off, and when it cleared, Jinja was amazed.

The Monsuno looked like a wolf, and was mainly a black coloring, though it had violet streaks on its back and sides. Not to mention its _tail_, which looked exactly like a peacock's, also had intricate lavender markings.

"Whoa," Miya breathed. "Y'know, it looks kinda like Lieutenant Irera's Monsuno, Featherclaw."

"Who's Irera?"

At that moment Miyu walked in. "Nice Monsuno," he complimented. Then he said, "Well, Lieutenant Irera is the Captain-Commander's right-hand-man, or girl, so to speak. She was actually doing recon with us when we found you guys passed out. If we hadn't been there…I don't wanna think about what would've happened to you."

All he got for a response was a grunt. _Well…at least STORM and Klipse don't know where we are. Or DarkSpin, or that crazy creep Dom Pyro. Those are plusses._

* * *

"Your Monsuno's part _plant_?!" Bren exclaimed.

Saurian nodded. "Yes, one of the only two in existence…so far."

The said Monsuno, aptly named Vinethorn, was a cross between a wolf and a rose—literally. It looked like a wolf, except it had a ruff of petals around its neck and its tail was, hence the name, a vine with plenty of thorns on it. Thorns were also present on its legs.

"It was a little tricky figuring out how to sequence Vinethorn's DNA at first," Jeredy said. "We figured it out eventually, though."

Then Saurian said, "Bren, I need you to run to the market—you know how to get there, right?"

"I've been studying the map…"

"Good. Here's a list, then."

* * *

Dax stared at the map Moeru gave him. The _Cvara _sector was totally packed—there were people all around. _Who knew so many people lived in a freaking _cave_._ He looked at the map again. Of course it couldn't have been in _plain English_, but instead the seemingly made-up language they used. Finally he decided to suck it up—he needed to ask for directions.

"Hey, do you know where I can find this house?" he asked a random guy, grabbing his sleeve to get his attention.

At first the guy reached to shrug Dax off, but froze when he saw the red scarf with the symbol of the 4th Squadron—the Lupian symbol for the number 4 (called _zherlá_) inside of a flame mark. "I'm sorry!" he babbled in accented English. "Wh-What do you need, sir?"

Dax felt an eyelid twitch, and he showed the map. The man studied it, and then pointed down the street to a gray-colored building that was by a small park—how they managed to get trees growing in a cave with _no actual sunlight_ he'd never understand.

He approached the door slowly, and knocked a few times. The door opened faster than he expected, and a girl who was a bit shorter than him was giving him a somewhat-annoyed look. "What?" she asked irritably.

"Uh, Captain Moeru sent me to pick up something—"

"Fire-lilies? Yeah, I got 'em." She shoved a package into his hands. Seeing his shocked look, she said, "Moe sends one of his subordinates once every three months to pick up some fire-lilies. It's his favorite flower—pain to grow 'em, since they usually grow near active volcanoes." She chuckled a bit, as if lost in a memory. Then she squinted her silvery-yellow eyes at him, and said, "You're a _secvara_, aren't ya?"

"Yeah."

"What's your name?"

"Dax."

She nodded. "Name's Myra. I'm the resident Sark here—not like you'd know what that means, probably."

"Uh, no."

"Figures. Well, just call me the local doctor—besides Captain Darkshade and his division. Now you better run on back to the 4th Division Station. You don't want to see Captain Moeru angry."

* * *

"Thank you," Beyal said to the shopkeeper, taking the bag of medical supplies Darkshade had sent him to pick up.

But as he turned to leave, he heard a voice say, "What do you think, Chase?" The silver-haired boy turned to see the Core-Tech leader and a red-haired man enter the marketplace. Chase looked awed, and then he noticed Beyal there, and his eyes lit up.

"Hey Beyal! Didn't expect to see you here!"

"Yes. Captain Darkshade sent me to get some herbs."

"So you're one of Chase's friends?" the man asked. Now Beyal recognized him as Lieutenant Roy of the 2nd Division.

"Yes sir."

Roy laughed. "Please, don't call me Lieutenant. I had enough of that in STORM." At seeing Beyal's expression, he said, "They ditched me, so I ditched 'em back. 'Least I still have Seafox."

Then he froze, eyes widening big-time. Beyal blinked, puzzled, and followed his gaze.

* * *

Chase was wondering why everyone in the market had gone so quiet suddenly. Until he turned to see a woman with spiky white hair and bright-green eyes wearing a pure-white scarf walk in with an official manner and look around. As soon as her gaze stopped on them Roy straightened so fast it was ridiculous, and exclaimed, "Captain-Commander Imari! What brings you to the marketplace?"

_What?!_ Chase was stunned. _The Captain-Commander's a girl?!_

Imari came up to them, and said, "I'm here on official business, Lieutenant Stoker." She looked at Chase and Beyal, and said, "Could you two come with me please?"

"Um…okay?" Chase barely got out. As they turned, they almost walked right into his father and Bren, the latter yelping when he saw Imari's pure-white decorated scarf—signifying she was the Captain of the 1st Division, and subsequently the Captain-Commander.

She smiled a bit. "Good thing you came. I was about to come and get you both anyhow."

"Uh-uh…are we in trouble?"

Imari seemed to think that was funny, since she laughed. "Of course not! I just need to talk to you and your friends for a few minutes."

* * *

They picked up Jinja and Dax from their Stations, and Imari led them to the important-looking big building that was in the center of the Elemental city. Imari's office was a simple white-walled room that had a purple carpet and a desk, as well as a computer and a pad built into the desk that had holographic projection. "Now then," Imari began, sitting down. "I suppose you're all wondering why I brought you all here."

"Sorta," Jinja said.

Imari closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I know that you five…" She glanced at the five teens. "…are the five in the prophecy."

Chase laughed nervously. "Uh…what prophecy."

"Don't play stupid. The Prophecy of the Five."

All of them felt like they froze solid on the spot. "H-How do you know?" Beyal asked.

"I know a lot of things, Beyal."

_No surprise she knows our names then, either,_ Chase thought. _She _is_ the head of the whole darn place._ Imari then, strangely enough, changed the subject. She smiled and said, "So how do you like it here?"

It took all of them off-guard so much, even _Dax_ said, "Uh, what?"

"You heard me. What do you guys think of it here?"

"It's—okay, I guess," Bren said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Moeru made me go get _flowers_ for him," Dax muttered.

Chase heard a "Pfft" from Bren at that. The Lowlander shot Bren a death glare.

Imari blinked a few times rapidly, and said, "Typical Moe. I'll tell him that he's gonna have to start going to Myra's _himself_ to get his fire-lilies."

"Fire-lilies?" Jinja asked. "What are those?"

"Flowers native to where I come from." She tapped a glass vase on her desk, which had a few orange-and-red flowers in it.

"And that would be…?" Jeredy asked.

Imari gave him a blank look, and then said cheerily, "So three of you got Elemental Monsunos?" Chase's eyes narrowed. _She's avoiding something._

"Um…yeah," Jinja said, looking put-off.

"Let me see."

In response, Jinja, Bren, and Beyal all took their third Monsunos out. Imari took them and set them on the desk. "Umm, Wolfclaw," she said, pointing at Bren's. "Featherfang," she said, pointing at Jinja's. "And Tigerscale," she finished, pointing at Beyal's. "All new ones—made the same night that you guys came."

And at that moment the door opened, and a black-haired girl came in, followed by Jeredy. "Captain-Commander Imari, we—am I interrupting something?"

"Oh, Lieutenant Irera! I was just about to send for you. What is it?"

"We're running short on water."

Imari facepalmed. "Right…I _knew_ I was forgetting something. Um…get Captain Darkshade. And bring Chase, Beyal, and Jeredy with you."


	5. Chapter V: Typical Day 典型的な一日

"I'll never understand her," Irera muttered.

"You and me both Lieutenant Irera," Darkshade said, shaking his head.

"Me three!" a voice exclaimed, making all of them jump. Chase looked behind him to see none other than Captain Wavewhisker sitting in the back of the vehicle, legs crossed. "I've never even seen her yet!" He laughed.

"Wha'—_Wavewhisker_!" Darkshade yelled. "You aren't supposed to be here!"

"Well, I'm here now!" The 6th Division Captain groaned, facepalming.

Chase remained silent for the rest of the ride as the hovercraft-jeep-thing went swiftly over the sands of the Alto Desert. They were headed for Islyn Town—a very small town on the border between Alappia, the Lowlands, and the Alto Desert.

Beyal was also silent. One thing that had been nagging in the back of Chase's head came up again—Imari's facial feathers had somewhat resembled Beyal's, if you squinted. _Maybe…nah, it couldn't be._

"We're here," Darkshade said, stopping the vehicle. "Jeredy, follow me. We'll be right back." They walked into a building that had a gol-dang big water tank behind it.

"So!" Irera said, turning to the Core-Tech members. "You guys know that I was one of the three that saved you, right?"

"Yes Lieutenant," Beyal said, though he seemed distracted.

Irera's blue eyes clouded a bit, and she said, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

Chase knew otherwise. But a more worrying thing happened to come up right then. "Vell, vell," a familiar voice said. "Vhat have we here?"

He turned. Standing a little ways off were—of course—both Charlemagne and Trey, both with cores in hand.

"It's about time you punks showed up again," Trey growled.

Wavewhisker marched to the front. "Who are you guys?" he asked.

Both of them looked a bit put-off, and Charlemagne said, "You stay out of zhis, little boy."

"Oh no," Irera moaned. "Bad move."

"Why?" Chase asked.

"Just watch."

Wavewhisker twitched a few times, and then yelled, "I AM NOT A LITTLE KID! And that's _Captain Wavewhisker_ to you, lady!"

Chase froze. _Did he _really_ just say that to Charlemagne…?_

But Wavewhisker wasn't done there. "Now I shall unleash my Monsuno Waterbreaker on you!" He reached to his belt—

And got a weird look on his face. He looked, and said, "Oh…_vémkós_."

"You forgot your Monsuno, didn't you?" Irera deadpanned.

"Yup."

"You, Wavewhisker, are one _rayíkote _little _kōeté_."

Chase groaned, slapping his forehead. "Can we forget that happened?" he said, taking Lock's core out. "_Please_."

In response, both Driftblade and Riccoshot were spun out. "Lock, launch!" Chase shouted.

Beyal followed up with, "Tigerscale, launch!"

Finally Irera finished with "Featherclaw, launch!"

The cores all clanged together, and the Monsunos emerged, snarling, in a tornado of yellow, blue, and purple.

"Featherclaw, Dagger Claws!" Irera ordered. The leopard-peacock hybrid roared and lunged at Riccoshot, though the beetle retaliated with Sonic Spinner.

Meanwhile Lock, Tigerscale, and Driftblade all circled each other slowly, as if sizing each other up. "Tigerscale, Venofang!" Beyal said.

The tiger-headed snake, in response, lunged at the lion-like Monsuno, only to miss as Driftblade leaped out of the way. "Driftblade, Plasma Barrage!" Charlemagne ordered.

"Light Reflector!" Beyal quickly put in. Tigerscale's violet scales glew a blinding white. As Driftblade attempted to attack, a piercing screeching sound was heard. Chase covered his ears, as did the others. Seeming flustered that Tigerscale wasn't harmed, Charlemagne followed up with, "Electronade Cannon!" The burst of electricity proved to be too much for the tigersnake—it returned to its core. Beyal's eyes narrowed.

"Lock, Jaw of Light!" Chase yelled. Lock followed suit, and though it hit directly, Driftblade was still standing. Meanwhile, Featherclaw was still fighting with Riccoshot—but it looked like Riccoshot had the upper hand now, judging by Irera's tone.

Chase gritted his teeth—things weren't looking too well. And just as he was about to order Lock to attack again, he heard, "Shadowstriker, launch!" and saw another violet core shoot out, and come into contact with one of Driftblade's claws. A purple flash temporarily blinded all of them, and there was a swirl of lavender light. _What…?_

When it cleared, another Elemental Monsuno stood there. This one looked like a hybrid between a wolf and a lion. It snarled at Driftblade, as Darkshade stepped out of the building, followed by Jeredy. "What's going on here?" the 6th Division Captain asked icily.

"Captain Darkshade," Irera said. "These two attacked us…" Hearing that, Darkshade turned his gaze to the two STORM members.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

Trey immediately glared at Jeredy, who shrunk back a bit. But the strangest was yet to come. It actually seemed that the Commandant-Marshal was struggling to find words. Finally, Chase muttered, "That there's Charlemagne—leader of STORM—and that's Commander Trey."

"Ah." Turning to his Monsuno, he said, "Shadowstriker, take both of them out." The lion-wolf growled, and it seemed to vanish. In the next instant, there was a flash, and both Driftblade and Riccoshot were sent into their cores.

_What the crag?_ Chase thought, shocked. _How—how did he win that fast?!_ "Now, both of you…" Darkshade growled, and then he shouted, "Get out of here!"

Trey visibly flinched, and started to retreat—only to have to go back and actually grab Charlemagne's arm to get her to come. She still seemed to be in shock. Then, seeming to suddenly recover, she twisted her arm to get out of Trey's grasp and said, "Vait—who are _you_?"

Darkshade's eyes narrowed before answering, "Darkshade. Captain of the 6th Division of the Elementals."

It got stranger after that—the blond woman visibly swallowed hard, and Trey repeated what he had done earlier and fled the scene with the Commandant-Marshal in tow.

After they were gone, Wavewhisker said cheerily, "Well that was fun!" earning the universal WTH look from all of them.

* * *

They were greeted by Captain Featherbreeze when they got back. "Did you guys get the water? You took an awfully long time," she said. "And—Wavewhisker, did you sneak along?"

"We got it. Ran into some trouble, though," Darkshade explained. "And yes, Wavewhisker here snuck along." The said Captain ducked his head down.

Chase yawned—the _kuweì_ were starting to turn midnight-blue, so it was pretty much nighttime now. "I'm going to the 2nd Station," he said. Beyal followed.

* * *

Of course he took a detour, though. "So how was the trip?" Jinja asked.

"Eh, fine. Except for when STORM showed up."

"Oh crag…what happened?" Dax asked.

"Well, Wavewhisker looked like a total idiot—"

"I heard about that from Miya," Jinja said.

"—and we _almost_ lost, but Darkshade saved the day. And here's the best part."

"What is it?" Bren asked.

At this point Chase was totally failing at keeping a grin off of his face. "I think _someone_ likes him."

"Who?" Jinja asked.

"Guess."

"Um…" She froze, realizing.

Dax's mouth twitched. "Don't tell me…Charlemagne?"

"Yup!" At that, the rest of Core-Tech besides Beyal burst out laughing.

"Well, that's gonna make things hard for her," Bren got out.

"Yeah it will," Jinja added. Something else had Chase's attention. He thought he saw his father frown a little at that last part.

Beyal remained quiet. Chase's eyes narrowed. _Yeah, something's bugging him. I'll ask him tomorrow. For now, I'm just gonna get some sleep. Today was hectic._


	6. Chapter VI: Snowwing スノーウィング

Darkshade sighed as he started working on his first batch of paperwork that morning. He still had a headache from yesterday—who did those two think they were?

He had done some research before he had gone to bed—apparently STORM was a government agency, specifically dealing with Monsunos. _And here I thought the government was supposed to _protect_ people,_ he muttered silently, remembering some of the things he had read. Boy did Saurian get his facts in detail.

And the way that woman—AKA the Commandant-Marshal—looked at him…well, Darkshade was used to getting those looks from girls. It's happened since day one of his career as 6th Division Captain. He had a strange feeling that yesterday was not their last encounter.

* * *

The next morning was unusual, to say in the least. Such as getting attacked by your division Captain as soon as you walk out of your room.

"What the crag was that for Cyril?!" Chase exclaimed, rubbing his head. Roy looked sympathetic—apparently it had happened to him before.

"A member of the Elemental Stealth Squadron must be prepared for anything!" she recited in response. "Anyway, Snowwing's coming to visit."

Roy's eyes lit up, while Chase just said "Who?"

"Right…_secvara_."

Chase twitched—he hated being called that. It was the Lupian equivalent for "newbie." His grammar in Lupine was starting to get better, and Cyril said that once he lost the _secvara_ title, he'd have to start doing stuff in Lupine more often. But Miyu had been right when he said the language stuck hard and fast. Heck, Jinja was already doing her stuff in Lupine. Speaking Lupine was a whole different—and harder—matter. "Isn't there a festival coming up, too?" Chase asked.

"The Aurora Festival…haven't you seen the posters?" Roy asked.

"No. Because I haven't had any time to go out."

Cyril gasped. "Why didn't you just say so?"  
"I tried to…"

"I'm sorry Chase, it's just…" She cut herself off, and then suddenly put in, "It's just that there's been a lot going on. Captain business." She briskly walked out of the room.

Chase looked at Roy, who shrugged. _That was weird._

* * *

"Doesn't this look awesome, Jinja?" Miya said loudly.

"Uh-huh," she responded, not really that interested. She was still wondering why she let Miya drag her to the marketplace for shopping. Said preteen was showing off some flashy fashion that went along with the theme of the Aurora Festival—bright rainbow colors. Not that Jinja didn't care about the festival—she was just more interested in the cultural aspect of it. After all, the Elementals seemed to have their own _everything_ when it came to culture—their own language, their own set of folktales; and all of it was unheard of in her book.

For one, there were the "Elemental Guardians," whom the organization was named for. There were nine of them—all extraordinarily powerful and most old beyond belief. The strange thing was that they all took the forms of wolves—the symbolic animal of the Elementals. All the captains' Monsunos were part wolf—though no one had ever seen Captain-Commander Imari's Monsuno. Heck, the language they had to learn was called _Lupine_, even!

Jinja then noticed Miya was in her face. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Um, nothing."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

* * *

Bren seriously disliked going into the marketplace during the afternoon hours. Namely because the afternoon was when it got warm in the cavern—the _kuweì_ also produced heat, intensity depending on color—and everyone wanted to get their shopping done then.

Sadly this day was totally packed. At least the marketplace was aesthetic in a festive way—streamers of all colors of the rainbow and everything in between were strung around the stands, and banners that glittered silver and random other colors were decorating the many _kuweì_-carrying posts—the _kuweì_ on the posts always glew white and gave off minor heat, like a regular lamp.

Someone then abruptly walked into Bren. "Watch it!" a woman's voice snapped.

Bren instantly replied, "I'm sorry!" while covering his face. He peered through a crack in his fingers and saw a woman with _dark-purple_ hair and periwinkle-blue eyes glaring death at him. She was wearing an all-black version of the Elementals _secvareī_ uniform.

At that moment a man with pitch-black hair and startlingly-yellow eyes said, "Jenna, apologize. You were the one that walked into him. Not to mention, look at his scarf."

The woman—Jenna, apparently—looked at his scarf hard, and said, "Oh, so you're in the bookwolf's division, are ya?"

_Bookwolf?_ "Um, if you mean Captain Saurian, then yeah…"

"You're in Saurian's squad?!" Yet another new voice broke in, and a white-haired lady rounded a corner—although she obviously wasn't Imari, seeing as her hair was longer and straight. She was wearing an all-white version of the _secvareī_ uniform. She smiled and knelt so she was eye-level with him. "Now, what's your name?"

"U-uh…Bren."

"That's a nice name. I'm Snowwing. When you see your captain, tell him I said hi."

Bren frowned slightly. _Didn't Captain Saurian mention that name somewhere…?_ Another voice cut off his thought. "'Ey Snowy! It looks like Moe and Saurian are at it again!" The source was a redheaded lady who had orange eyes. _Ah crag…not again!_ He ran over just in time to see Saurian nose-to-nose with Moeru.

"That pathetic plant of yours wouldn't last a second against Sootblaze!" Moeru was saying proudly.

Saurian twitched angrily before saying, "Don't forget I'm captain of the _3rd_ Division. You're _4th _Division, Moeru."

"That doesn't mean I can't whip your tail."

Snowwing then broke in. "That's enough, boys." She put a hand to her forehead. "Jeez, you're bad enough at home."

They both stared at her blankly for a moment, and exclaimed simultaneously, "Snowwing!" Moe's eyes were practically glittering. "So," he started in a flamboyant tone, "Did you come for the Aurora Festival?"

"Yes Moe, I did. I brought the kids, too."

"Kids?" the 4th Division captain repeated dumbly.

Snowwing smirked in a manner that made Bren stiffen **(insert anime-style eye-glint here)**, and she whistled. There was a blur as four six-year-olds tacked Moeru at top speed, shouting, "_Uncle Moe!_" Said captain was buried.

Bren tried his best in keeping down a laugh, and very nearly failed. Then Saurian noticed he was there, and said, "Did you get the thing?"

"Yep." Bren held up a bag, which Saurian took.

"Good job. Now…" He turned to look at Moe, who was struggling to stand while keeping two girls and one boy off of him—of whom were trying to pounce on him still. But wait, weren't there _four_—

"Ow!"

The missing girl—one with yellow eyes and black hair with a bit of white suddenly and randomly bit his hand.

Snowwing flinched, and said, "Star! What did I tell you about biting?"

"Sorry mommy."

"What do you say?"

The kid glanced up at him and muttered "sorry."

"I-It's okay."

Star then blinked, and said, "What's that?" while pointing at his cores.

Snowwing quickly said, "Lightningfang—!"

The yellow-eyed man—probably the kids' dad—dragged her over and said, "We'll tell you four about that later. Come on, we need to get to our apartment. Scorchfang, Jenna, come on!"

The four of them walked away. Moeru also got up, and grumbled, "I'm going back to the 4th Station." He stalked off without another word.

Saurian smirked. "We better get back too, Bren. The fireworks are gonna be going off at ten tonight—we're gonna want to be rested up, since they go on until eleven."

* * *

Dax was hyped. One part of being part of the 4th Division was helping the 5th Division captain Featherbreeze—who was also head of the Elemental Recreational Club—set up activities…although the 4th Division was solely focused on the fireworks.

Already he'd come up with a few awesome-looking ones, based on designs Lieutenant Ashtail had shown him. "Ashtail" was a weird name, but he was used to hearing people telling him that. His name actually suited him somewhat, as he had ash-gray hair.

"Like this, got it?" he said.

"Got it."

"Good." He laughed. "Keep at it, Dax. Keep at it."

* * *

Imari watched things going on from her office window. She had never expected that first group of travelers to accidentally wander into the base, searching for shelter from the Alto Desert's unforgiving heat. That had set up the first desert patrols, bringing back anyone they found alive to safety. Most stayed in the _Cvara _sector, happy to live a sheltered life, while few others showed interest in the then-tiny Divisions. So those ones became _secvareī_, after tutelage in Lupine, of course.

And over the seven years the Elementals had been running, they'd actually had to set up a school in the _Cvara _sector for the younger inhabitants. _I'll bet not even Dianthus could have predicted we'd be running something like this!_

She smiled faintly, seeing one of the _secvara_—Bren—with Saurian. Well, they wouldn't be considered _secvara _much longer. She'd have to start planning their _secvareīken_ ceremony soon…

Her smile grew. _It will be a big day for them…and for me as well. I'll tell him the truth right before the ceremony; I'm sure he already suspects that I'm his mother. Yes, that's what I'll do._


	7. Chapter VII: Revelation 暴露

An explosion sounded in the air, high above Elemental Mountain, as the first of the opening-night fireworks for the Aurora Festival went off. Moeru chuckled to himself, seeing the five _secvara_ all watching the show, along with the other _secvareī_ and _cvaraī_.

He turned to see Featherbreeze skip up. "Captain-Commander Imari wants to see us," the 5th Division captain said. Her eyes darkened, and she added, "It's about Kirin."

The vermillion-eyed man stiffened. "_Vémkós_…I thought we'd seen the last of that guy."

"Apparently not. Come on. Oh, and Viron's been sighted. In Gogekka Town."

"Not that sadist!"

"My thoughts exactly."

They started down the carved stairway leading into the mountain, from the plateau. As soon as they reached the Captains' Meeting Room, the others were already there. "You're late," Cyril said, crossing her arms.

"Not my fault! Ashtail and Dax made some really cool fireworks!"

"The fireworks _are_ pretty good this year," Imari commented, watching them from the TV that was stationed in the room.

"Right…back to the issue at hand." Imari slapped a newspaper article onto the table. It described what appeared to be rash amounts of thievery—and the items that had been stolen all consisted of weapons, either from local businesses or even STORM, and some of the stolen things from the said government agency were "top-secret devices." AKA, the machinery used to convert raw Monsuno essence into actual Monsunos and their cores.

It was worrying indeed. Moeru's eyes went narrow as slits. _If Kirin's behind this…then his master must be stirring. I thought we'd heard the last of him for at least a few hundred years, if not a thousand, after the whipping Snowwing gave him. Guess not._

* * *

Beyal watched the fireworks in awe. He'd never seen anything like them before—they were amazing! "Aren't they pretty, Beyal?" his Division's lieutenant, Lilinette, asked him.

He nodded. "Yes, they are."

A beeping sound made him look, and Lilinette took her phone from her pocket. She put it up to her ear after checking who it was, and said, "Yes Captain?" There was a pause. "Oh, okay…I'll send him now." She put her phone back into her pocket, and said, "Beyal, the Captain-Commander wants to see you…" She frowned while looking over Beyal, and raised her voice slightly. "Actually, I think she wants to see all six of you."

* * *

They walked in silence on the way to Imari's office. "What do you think it is this time?" Jinja asked. Dax shrugged simultaneously with Chase.

"We didn't do something wrong, did we?" Bren asked.

Beyal shook his head. "I do not think so, Bren."

Chase knocked on Imari's office door, and the Captain-Commander opened it. "Come right in," she said. Beyal noted that Captains Cyril, Saurian, Moeru, Darkshade, and Wavewhisker were present as well. Apparently his father had been called down as well, for he came in a moment later. "Ah, what's going on here?" Chase asked.

Cyril smiled. "You see, you six are scheduled to have your _secvareīken _in two days." Jinja gasped.

"You mean—we're losing our _secvara_ status?" she asked.

"Yep," Moeru said, putting his arms behind his head. "Normally we don't tell the lucky ones…"

"But you six are a special case," Saurian continued, adjusting his glasses.

"The six of you work very well as a team," Darkshade put in.

"So we're making a special team consisting of you guys for a super-special mission that's, like, _really_ important!" Wavewhisker finished.

"It'll have a few other members in it, of course," Imari said. "Miya has volunteered to be part of it. As have Roy and."

Beyal saw Chase smile, as with Jinja. Roy and Ashtail were both lieutenants—Roy being an ex-STORM Elite, and Ashtail…he was an enigmatic, as were the other _secvareī_ with names like that, but very capable in defending himself; Monsuno battle or hand-to-hand. Miya was…well, Miya.

Then the door opened, and they turned to see Captain Featherbreeze come in, followed by a woman with white hair and blue eyes. "Snowwing?" Bren exclaimed.

"There you are." Imari nodded at them.

"Sorry," Snowwing said, looking sheepish. "There was an argument in the marketplace that almost turned into a brawl."

Now an air of confusion surrounded Core-Tech. "Um, not to sound rude, but why are all of you here?" Jinja asked.

Imari straightened. "There's another reason why I called you six here. What I am about to tell you must _not_ be told to anyone else, not even your Division lieutenants."

Beyal was beginning to feel tense now. He could tell that the others of his tribe felt the same—Bren was looking increasingly nervous, and Chase kept shifting from foot to foot. "Tell me…have you read about the Elemental Guardians?" Darkshade queried.

"Yeah," Jinja said. "They're the ones we're named for."

"Exactly," Snowwing said with a nod. "How much of the myths do you think are true?"

This one caught them all off guard. "Um…well…" Jinja stammered.

"Well, if you don't believe 'em, you're dead-wrong," Moeru said jovially. "Because—_mmph_!"

Saurian clapped a hand over Moeru's mouth. "What my dear friend here is _trying_ to say," the green-haired man started, "Is that…well, _we_ are the Elemental Guardians."

* * *

Jinja's mind simply stopped processing things after that. "But that's impossible!" she cried. She turned to the Captain-Commander. "Imari that would make you…like, a gajillion years old!"

Imari looked hurt for an instant, and then grinned. "That's because I am. Then again, we're immortal and magical, so we can look however we want!"

"I thought you were wolves!"

"Again on the _magic_ part, Jinja," Wavewhisker said. "Observe." His eyes flashed blue, and before any of them knew it, there was a blue-furred wolf winged sitting there, with sea-green markings. And wings. All of them stared. _That explains the emblem…_

"_Uh_," Bren said in a very intelligent tone.

"Holy crag," Dax got out.

"Now do you believe us?" Imari said. All of them nodded, although Jeredy still looked shocked beyond beleif.

Featherbreeze then added, "And please, don't act any different around us. We might be super-powered beings, but we're still people…er, wolves anyway."

Jinja then recalled something else. "Um, Imari? Remember when we first met, you said something about fire-lilies being only from where you were from? Where _is_ that, exactly?"

At that, the guardians exchanged looks, and Saurian said, "Well, you could say we're from a different dimension. An airlock dimension, to be precise. Yes, parallel dimensions exist." He spread an arm out. "See, I just disturbed countless amounts of parallel dimensions just now, but none of the inhabitants know of it…as far as I know."

"Tense," Chase said quietly.

Imari nodded. "Okay then. Now, if _all_ of you could excuse me, I would like to have a private word with Beyal."

* * *

As soon as the door closed, Imari sat down. "Beyal, I have a question for you," she said.

"Yes?"

"Tell me—you were raised as a monk, correct?"

He nodded.

"Did you ever know either of your parents?"

This one caught him off-guard. "…I knew my father, but…he was killed."

Imari flinched slightly, and said, "I'm sorry to hear that. What about your mother?"

"I never knew her."

Silence went on for a minute. Imari seemed to be considering something. She took a deep breath, and said, "Well, you actually have met her."

The white-haired boy gained a surprised look. "I…have?"

The Captain-Commander nodded, smiling faintly. "Actually, you're talking to her right now."


	8. Chapter VIII: Demons 悪霊

The next morning, Chase was glade that the captains were letting all _secvareī _sleep in late. Though at the same time, he was looking forward to the _secvareīken_. So, despite him being tired, he woke up.

First thing he did was look outside. The _kuweì_ were a pale whitish-blue. _What time is it?_ He checked the clock—it was seven sharp. _Wow, normally I'm _never_ up this early._ After getting dressed, he stepped out, and saw that he was actually first one up. Exactly three-point-five seconds later, Cyril stepped out of her office. Her ice-blue eyes widened, and she said, "Yikes, Chase! You actually woke up before me!"

"Guess I did."

She smiled, and said, "I guess you're excited. I wouldn't be surprised if your friends and father were up already, too. Why don't you head out to the square?"

"Doing it now!" He raced out, failing to notice Cyril smirking faintly. As it turned out, the Elemental Guardian was correct—the others were waiting outside. First thing he noticed was that Beyal had a blank, shocked look on his face, still from last night.

Dax noticed, and said, "Hey monkfish, are you gonna tell us what leader-lady told you?"

Beyal was silent for a bit. Then he said, "She…told me that…that…"

"Spit it out!" Bren said.

And Beyal told them.

* * *

"Ma'am, there's nothing out here," Trey said for the millionth time. He was silenced by the glare Charlemagne gave him. Ever since that day in Islyn Town when the rogue controllers and Jeredy Suno had finally shown up again, she had been unable to get that purple-eyed man out of her head.

She was beginning to think that Trey was right—there really wasn't much in the Alto Desert. Except for the huge mountain in the center; that was the reason for the desert's name—along with the deep sands, of course…which was why they had used a Hopper to get out there in the first place.

Then one soldier exclaimed, "Hey, who are you?"

The Commandant-Marshal turned around, and saw a single person wearing a black-blue cloak with the hood up looking at them. She saw that the person had dark-blue eyes. "Who am I?" he said. "I am Viron." He took his hood down, showing that he had bluish-black hair…but that wasn't what had her attention. What had her attention was that not only did he have a black-colored core, he also had slitted pupils. Which wasn't natural.

"Viron" smiled slowly. "I'm afraid I have to kill all of you know." A knife glinted in his hands, and now she saw he had a sword as well. She reacted instantly, getting ready to spin Driftblade out—

But not fast enough.

* * *

Lieutenant Lilinette squinted as she scanned the desert with her high-powered binoculars. _Too bad no _secvareī_ are excluded from patrols,_ she thought. _Not even 6th Division._ "I wonder why Captain Saurian ordered us three to come out here," Ashtail said, throwing Desertrunner's core up and down.

"There's probably a reason," Miyu reasoned.

"Three lieutenants. There's gotta be a reason for it."

"Still…"

Lilinette sighed. "Will both of you just drop it? It doesn't really matter." Suddenly Ashtail went stiff. The 6th Division Lieutenant stared at him. She knew that he had an unusually-acute sense of smell.

Miyu looked up. "What's wrong, Lieutenant Ashtail?"

"I smell blood. A lot of it."

Now Lilinette stood up on the _anvar_, scanning with her binoculars. She froze. "Over there! Seven people…_holy Amaries!_"

* * *

Chase was still reeling from Beyal's revelation. _Imari—she's his mother?!_ _And Imari's an Elemental Guardian—what does that make Beyal?_

"Out of the way!" a worried voice shouted suddenly.

_Cvara _and _secvareī _alike looked and jumped out of the way as Lieutenant Lilinette sped by in her med-_anvar_. Beyal looked worried, and said, "I must go…there appears to be a crisis." He raced away. Chase, after exchanging quick looks and nods with the others, ran after him.

The 6th Division Station was in a ruckus, whatever happened. "Keep it calm, everyone!" Captain Darkshade ordered. "Lieutenant, I want IVs on all seven of them stat." He turned and flinched slightly when he saw Beyal standing there, and said, "There you are." He looked momentarily puzzled when he saw Chase, Bren, Jinja, Dax, and Jeredy there, but simply said, "We need all the help we can get." He took out his radio, and said into it, "Saurian, I need you up here at the 6th Station. We've got a code-alpha on our hands." Beyal went stiff.

"What's 'code-alpha' mean?" Bren asked in a whisper.

Beyal answered, "Someone may die."

"Exactly," Darkshade said. "But the worrying part is that I think I know who wounded these seven to this extent." He looked into the other room. Chase tried to follow his gaze, but there were too many people rushing around in there.

"Wait, who're the ones who got hurt?" Dax asked.

The look the captain gave them was intense. "They're from STORM. Two of them are the controllers we dealt with in Islyn Town."

Chase gasped a bit at that. "What happened?"

"Well…the commander's totally cut up. As for the commandant…" He trailed off. "She's very lucky to be alive right now; she's got a pretty nasty gash on her stomach. Looked like a stab wound, too." He heard his father hiss in a breath. "Definitely an assassination attempt directed at both of them, though I don't really know who would want STORM out of business. As for the other five…I'd rather not go into details."

Bren made a sound that warned Chase that the member of the 3rd Division was going to puke within ten seconds. Darkshade shoved him over to a trash can just in time. After grimacing, the captain said, "Beyal, I'm going to need you for this. Come on."

"Yes sir."

At that moment the 3rd Division Captain barged in, saying, "Darkshade, what's the 4-1-1?" Darkshade gave him the details, and he flinched so hard his emerald-rimmed glasses became lopsided. "Was it Viron?"

"_Hrm!_"

Saurian froze, and said, "I'll get right to work." He dashed into the infirmary without another word—it was as if he'd said something he wasn't supposed to.

"Um, Captain Darkshade?" Jinja spoke up. "What can we do to help?" Her voice was tight.

The raven-haired man looked at them, and said, "If any of you have medical skills, we'll need all the help we can get."

Jinja nodded, and said, "I know a few things…"

"Then come along. As for you three, why don't one of you go get Captain Cyril? She's the third best medic in the Elementals."

"On it!" Chase said, running out at full speed.

He was there within seconds it seemed, and he barged in, totally ignoring Roy's exclaim, and burst into Cyril's quarters. She frowned. "Chase, what's—"

"Darkshade needs you. He says it's a code-alpha!"

"Code-alpha?!" She raced by so fast it sent him spinning.

Roy poked his head into the room, and said, "What's this about a code-alpha?" Chase explained it to him, and a few conflicting emotions appeared on the former Elite's face. "I know a few medical skills from my time in STORM…I better get over there too."

* * *

About three hours passed, and the _kuweì_ had turned to a midnight-blue—the darkest color they could get. Chase absently stared out a window. Dax repeatedly tapped the arm of the chair he was sitting in, and Bren was skimming through a medical book that a 6th Division member had given him. They were able to hear muted conversations from the infirmary, but other than that, they knew nothing.

Finally Chase said, "I wonder what's going on in there."

"You and me both, bandito," Dax said.

Bren shut the book. "Yeah. I mean, what do you think could've done _that_ to people from STORM? Especially Charlemagne and Trey!"

"That's what has me worried, B," Chase said. "Darkshade said it was an assassination attempt."

When the door opened, all of them jumped slightly. It was Beyal and Jinja. Both of them looked pallid. Roy came out right after. He looked stricken. "What happened?" Dax asked.

Jinja swallowed before saying, "You guys know how seven were brought in?"

"Yeah," Chase said slowly.

Beyal then said, "There are only three now."

A silence so thick it seemed choking suffused the Station lobby. "Aw crag," Chase muttered.

"Harsh," Bren said quietly.

Dax said nothing, arms crossed and tapping one finger slowly over and over. Roy nodded slightly, and said, "Your dad's still in there."

Chase blinked. "Really?" _Why?_

The door opened again, and Darkshade came out, wiping some sweat off of his forehead. Saurian and Cyril followed him, looking sullen. "It's been a while since I saw someone die in an infirmary with me there," Saurian said. Cyril nodded.

"Well, what happens will happen," Darkshade said. He looked at them, and said, "You guys can go." The other captains nodded and complied. Then, to Core-Tech, he said, "It was rough going. At least three of them lived, though."

Out of curiosity, Chase went over to the window for the infirmary doors, and peered in. He could only see the third one—an Elite—and he looked awfully pale.

A silence so thick it seemed choking suffused the Station lobby. "Aw crag," Chase muttered.

"Harsh," Bren said quietly. Dax said nothing, arms crossed and tapping one finger slowly over and over. Roy nodded slightly,

The door opened again, and Darkshade came out, wiping some sweat off of his forehead. Saurian, Cyril, and his father followed him, looking sullen. "It's been a while since I saw someone die in an infirmary with me there," Saurian said. Cyril nodded.

"Well, what happens will happen," Darkshade said. He looked at them, and said, "You guys can go." The other captains nodded and complied. Then, to Core-Tech, he said, "It was rough going. At least three of them lived, though."

Out of curiosity, Chase went over to the window for the infirmary doors, and peered in. He could only see the third one—an Elite—and he looked awfully pale.

Cracking the door open slightly, he looked around and saw that Trey had multiple bandages on him. Charlemagne looked the worst—she had a few visible cuts that had stopped bleeding, but she had plenty of bandages around her stomach. They were both just as pale—no kidding, since they had obviously lost a lot of blood.

"Man," he whispered to himself.

Darkshade looked at him from over his shoulder, and said, "I'll be staying here, just in case any of them develop any complications."

Chase rubbed his eyes, and asked, "What time is it?"

Darkshade looked at a clock, and said, "Eleven-thirty. I'll call your division captains and tell them to let you guys sleep in." He smirked a little. "By the way, your _secvareīken_ is soon—had to be rescheduled because of this. Keep that in mind."

* * *

As soon as the others were gone, Jeredy immediately asked, "Can I stay?"

Darkshade raised an eyebrow. Then he smiled a bit. "Of course. Although I must ask…is there a reason?" His tone was suggestive.

"Wha'—not really…" He felt his face heating up. Truthfully he didn't know why himself.

* * *

Darkshade tapped the counter while he wrote his report. _Ugh, seven patients…four deaths. Been awhile since we had something like that happen. _He paused and looked up. The remaining three were looking a bit less pasty, which was a good sign. Darkshade made note of the fact that Jeredy was sitting by the Commandant-Marshal. He looked at the six cores that had been on the surviving three—the other four hadn't had any.

He opened a drawer and took out one of the portable core-scanners, and placed one in. _Riccoshot, eh? Hercules-beetle hybrid…we don't have one of those, so he's a first._ There was also Venomeleon, Blackbullet, Vapidblaze, Goldhorn, and Driftblade.

But the strange part was, as soon as he took Driftblade's core from the scanner, Shadowstriker's core started glowing, as did Driftblade's. Shocked, he took his core and placed it beside the other, and the glow intensified. He remained expressionless. _It appears I've found a partial twin for Shadowstriker._

He smirked faintly before looking back into the other room. It looked like Jeredy had dozed off. _Figures…if my nose was telling me right, I think he likes her—but doesn't know himself._

* * *

Jeredy woke up very suddenly, looking up and around. The _kuweì_ were pale-blue. He sighed, and glanced at Charlemagne. She was still out of it. Still, who would want both her and Trey dead? It didn't make sense. The 3rd Division member frowned. _Who could've done this to you, Charlemagne?_

Darkshade came into the room at that moment. "I hope you know that Saurian's looking for you, right?" he said.

Jeredy looked at the time—seven-thirty. _Crag, I'm late!_ He glanced one more time at his former friend before leaving.

* * *

Everything was blurry when Charlemagne regained consciousness. Second thing she was aware of was she was hurting like hell. Third thing she was aware of was that she was in what looked like an infirmary, on a cot. Fourth thing she was aware of was that _someone_ _in particular _was hovering over her, making her face heat up.

"So you finally woke up," Darkshade said. She instantly bolted upright, only to hiss in a breath at her injuries' screaming protests. "Easy! You almost bled to death earlier," he scolded. "I _don't_ want to coach my _secvara _through any more blood transfusions." To himself, he muttered, "Poor kid almost passed out."

Charlemagne recalled seeing Darkshade's violet scarf on someone else—one of the rogue controllers, the white-haired kid. She remembered that day in Islyn Town, seeing the said kid wearing a strange outfit, along with Chase Suno…and his father. The outfits were not unlike the one that Darkshade was wearing.

He seemed to be considering something. "By the way…I probably should tell you that four of your soldiers…didn't make it." She remained expressionless.

In response the captain's brow furrowed. "Don't you have any empathy at all?" he asked sharply before turning and striding away.

After that, she facepalmed. "Zhat didn't go as planned," she muttered to herself. Then she heard a grunt from beside her, and turned to the next cot over to see Commander Trey, who had just opened his eyes. The other remaining soldier—an Elite by the name of Noah—who had lived was on a cot in the opposite row, and was still unconscious.

"Are we alive?" Trey groaned.

"Yes, Commander," she growled in response.

He sat up, only to flinch and lie back down. "On second thought, I'll keep laying here," he muttered. She sighed, also slowly leaning back again, wincing. She knew she was lucky to be alive—surviving a stab to the stomach like that.

There she went again—she felt her face heating up. Trey noticed, and said, "You sick or something?" He twitched nervously at the glare she gave him, and looked away.

Though in a way, she supposed she was sick.


	9. Interlude 間奏

(Setting: Captains' Meeting Room)

Myra: *enters* Hello to one and all! You all know me as Myra, resident Sark of the Elementals or Sark of the Smoke River (which is located in Central Alappia). I first got this story idea during school, during lunch. I seem to get all my good ideas when I have chocolate milk.

* * *

I suppose you don't know what "Sark" means…well, truthfully I got it from a favorite book series of mine (of course having to do with wolves), honoring a now-dead character. My version of the word is like a traditional doctor mixed with a mage and a prophet.

* * *

*holds up book* The book I hold up to you know has detailed information on the Elemental Guardians, supplied by themselves…as they all owe me big-time for giving them their big break finally. And something all of you MUST know—the Elemental Guardians can appear to be whatever age they want.

_Imari—leader of the Elemental Guardians, old as dirt, acts like a three-year-old on a sugar high most of the time, and has complete control over the element of "light." Tends to appear as a 10-year-old, a 15-year-old, or a 32-year-old (as in the story)._

Imari: "That's me!"

Myra: *clears throat* She is also Cyril's mother…and in this case Beyal's as well. Does this make said monkfish an Elemental Guardian? The answer is…not really. Most children of the Elemental Guardians _do_ have special abilities, however—his being his Monsuno Sight and slightly-enhanced physical abilities. And his white hair, of course. And yes, Cyril is his half-sister.

_Cyril—second of the Elemental Guardians, a few hundred years younger than Imari, and has total control over the element of "ice." She tends to appear as a 28-year-old. Many books relating to myths in the _Cvara_ sector's libraries are written by her. Her father is named Genso, and is a powerful elemental spirit._

_Saurian—third of the Elemental Guardians, roughly four-hundred years younger than Cyril, and controls the element of "earth." Also known as "bookwolf." Tends to have his nose buried in either a book or his laptop. He appears to be a 26-year-old._

_Moeruōkami—fourth of the Elemental Guardians, one-hundred years younger than Saurian, wielder of the element of "fire." A total hothead, like his element suggests. Always argues with Saurian over the stupidest of things. Appears to be a 24-year-old._

_Snowwing—fifth of the Elemental Guardians, one-fifty years younger than Moeru, controls the element of "snow." Yes, snow is an element where they come from. Is well-known for her defeating a prominent demon in her realm. Appears to be a 26-year-old._

_Featherbreeze—sixth of the Elemental Guardians, only ten years younger than Snowwing—a first—and controls the element of "wind." She is a bit too happy-go-lucky for her own good sometimes. Appears to be 17._

_Darkshade—seventh of the Elemental Guardians, younger than Featherbreeze by only five years. He controls the element "darkness" but don't let that fool you. Best medic in the Elementals, and well-known handsome devil. He looks 22._

_Wavewhisker—eighth of the Elemental Guardians, younger than Darkshade by fifteen years. He controls the element "water." He looks like a 12-year-old, and acts like one as well._

_Maevera—ninth of the Elemental Guardians. Younger than Wavewhisker by two years. She controls the element "electricity." She looks like a 7-year-old, though she's the most mature kid there is._

* * *

Now, the language of "Lupine" was invented by my sister—as the Guardians themselves were first invented by the sister (though Moeru is credited to me). *holds up sheet of paper* Now, I have a list of words and their translations for you…though these words are limited to the ones that have appeared in the story already.

**Uquírak—term for the building where secvaraī stay.**

**Kuweì—term for the crystals used as lamps (and the sky!) in the Elemental society. One variant changes colors and gives off heat depending on the time of day, while others stay white at all times and give off mild heat.**

**Cvara—term for a civilian.**

**Secvara—new member of a division. Plural is secvaraī.**

**Secvareī—member of a division. Not to be confused with secvaraī. Both singular and plural.**

**Anvar—a type of car that is built like a hovercraft in order to cross the deep sands of the Alto Desert.**

* * *

Okay, now for the explanation on what "Twin Monsunos" are. Basically, one version what happens is you give two different Monsunos the same exact DNA. Seeing as they are their own individual beings, they do not have the same name, but will have similar-sounding names. This is what is known as a "Pure" twin.

OR, you can have two or more Monsunos that share part of their DNA. The combinations can be endless. This is what is a "Partial" twin is.

Twin Monsunos tend to be more powerful when they fight alongside each other, and in contrast, are weakened when they fight against each other. It's a weird factor, but you know how families are like.

**Some Partial-Twin Monsunos are: **

**Lock and Crystalfrost (You'll see later!) **

**Whipper, Tigerwhip and Tigerscale **

**Featherfang and Featherclaw **

**Boost and Wolfclaw **

**Sootblaze and Dragonburn (SURPRISE! Dom Pyro will appear later) **

**Blackbullet and Windfeather (Featherbreeze's Monsuno) **

**Driftblade and Shadowstriker **

**Airswitch, Skyrain (Lilinette's Monsuno), and Nightstone (who, in this case, belongs to Jeredy!)**

* * *

*flips through notebook* Well, that's almost all of it…but I'm supposing who—or what—attacked the group of STORM people in Chapter 8. One more thing—you know the name "Kirin"? That's one name to definitely keep in mind…

* * *

Yup, I think that about does it. Letting you all know, I'm still trying to get an idea on how to start the next chapter, which involves Imari personally sending Core-Tech and two others on a mission to the Alto Ruins to retrieve a sacred, very special artifact, although there's a run-in with a new enemy…

So until then, see ya!


	10. Chapter IX: Mission 使命

**Before I get bombarded: yes, Noah belongs to Glowblade998. ~Myra  
**

* * *

The festival days were…different, to say in the least.

Things for Beyal had already seemed to have gone beyond his level of "past weird" when Imari—the Captain-Commander and _first Elemental Guardian_—was his mother. And now they had three members of STORM in the 6th Division Station, which blew it even further out of the water. Of course they weren't allowed to leave the station—Charlemagne and Trey, anyway, seeing as they were the more-injured ones. The Elite, named Noah, was allowed to at least walk outside for a while.

Darkshade had explained to all three of them about the type of poison that was not-yet-entirely out of their systems, which strained the circulatory system. In other words, too much activity would be bad for them.

Trey wasn't allowed out of the building yet, and Charlemagne wasn't even able to go out of the infirmary—which was driving her nuts, apparently.

And from what Beyal could observe, that wasn't the only thing: Chase's earlier suspicion about her liking Darkshade was _obviously_ correct. Seeing as every time she even glanced at him, the white-haired teen was able to see a faint blush on her face. And Commander Trey visibly hated it. Strangely, it seemed that Chase's father didn't like it too much either. Beyal had a thought…but it was just too darn weird.

But he wasn't too focused on that for the moment. He was more of focused on the matter of his mother. Ever since news started spreading throughout the Stations, all of them had been treating him differently—probably due to the fact that they were afraid of his mother. He still had his tribe, Lieutenant Lilinette, and Captain Darkshade however. Those were the good things.

* * *

"Alright, here's the rundown," Irera started, putting a map on the table. "See, out here on the coastline is the Alto Ruins…"

Jinja gasped. "I've heard about that place!" she exclaimed. "No one's ever been able to explore it because the doors are sealed, and explosives never even leave a mark."

"Exactly." The 1st Division Lieutenant nodded. "Captain Saurian recently discovered something interesting about the doors, though…as well as a few other old temples scattered around the continent, but we have other teams investigating those ones. In the center of the doors, there is a strange indentation that resembles a core." Her eyes gleamed as she said this.

"So you're saying that a Monsuno can open the door," Jeredy said, looking thoughtful.

"A Monsuno in its core, yes. That's what the Captain-Commander wants you all to check out. And if you _can_ get into the ruins…she wants you to explore. She told me there's some sort of important item rumored to be in there."

"Alright," Chase said. "Leave it to us!"

* * *

The _anvar_ sped across the deep sands. The air was hot and dry, but by now they were all getting used to it.

"Are we there yet?" Bren asked.

"Not quite," Ashtail responded. "Don't get your tail into a twist."

"Huh?" Bren blinked a few times, then dismissed it. All Elemental members with names like Ashtail's used strange sayings like that. The Sark, Myra did as well, and so did Lilinette.

"Over there!" Roy exclaimed, pointing. A large building, made of sandstone, had come into view. "That's the Alto Ruins."

As the _anvar_ came to a halt in front of the steps leading up, Bren had one thought. _Why does Imari want us to check this place out, anyways?_

They reached the top. The door wasn't that big, but it was still impressive. What with the strange symbols and runes engraved on it.

Both Jinja and Beyal went for a closer look. They stared for a few minutes. Then Jinja said, "I don't recognize any of those markings."

"Neither do I," Beyal added.

Ashtail looked thoughtful. "It isn't any form of Lupian, either. Maybe Captain Saurian would know."

"Maybe," Bren agreed. Especially since he was an Elemental Guardian, third to be precise. Funny—he was the _3rd _Division Captain.

Then the glasses-wearing teen noticed that Chase was slowly walking toward the door, a blank look in his eyes. "Chase?" Bren asked, slightly worried. "What's wrong?"

Chase stopped in front of the door. Wordlessly, as if in a trance, he took Lock's core and pressed it into the indentation in the door with a _click_.

For a few moments nothing happened. Then the symbols and runes all lit up blue, _and the door opened_.

"So Lieutenant Irera was right," Ashtail exclaimed, shocked.

"Hold up!" Dax suddenly exclaimed. "This thing is a bajillion years old! How can a Monsuno core open it?!"

"He's right!" Jeredy exclaimed. "It hasn't even been a full year since…" He trailed off. Ashtail looked very sheepish all of a sudden.

"Uh…I hate breaking this to you Jeredy, but…actually, Saurian made the first Elemental Monsuno ten years ago. You were just the one to give them a good name." Quieter, he added, "After about a million fails."

Jeredy was silent. Meanwhile, Chase blinked, and shook his head. Then he exclaimed, "Uh, since when was the door open?!"

* * *

The inside of the building was as Beyal expected. It was a simple hallway lined with columns, a stairway leading down at the end of the hall. And on the left was a mural depicting…three particular Monsunos. Lock, Driftblade, and Backslash.

The others didn't notice, instead going straight for the stairs. Beyal would show them on the way out.

The light rapidly vanished, leaving them walking in darkness. After a few minutes they reached another room—and stopped.

This room was quite large, and it somehow had grass growing—but that was probably because of the _kuweì _on the ceiling. Why were there _kuweì_ here?!

There were also small canals filled with crystal-clear water that flowed in from holes in the wall. And on a pedestal in the back of the room…

"That's it—that's what the Captain-Commander wanted us to find, I bet!" Ashtail exclaimed. Said item was a white-glowing crystal about the size of a tennis ball. It looked more like a decoration—why would his mother want it?

He went over to the platform, and picked the crystal up. It felt warm in his hand. But as he turned around, he heard an unfamiliar voice. "Why, thank you for opening the ruins up for me."

All of them turned. Ashtail immediately snarled. "_Viron_!" he shouted.

Beyal recalled hearing Saurian mention that name. The man standing there had bluish-black hair and dark-blue eyes…but the pupils were slitted. He was wearing a dark-blue cloak that was adorned with a strange symbol…a black-and-bronze wolf with batwings. The symbolic opposite of the Elementals symbol. Beyal saw that he had a sword, and was twirling a black core in his hand, also having that strange symbol. "I'll be taking the Pure Crystal now," he said, smirking.

"Over my dead body!" the 4th Division Lieutenant growled.

"I can arrange that, you know," Viron said in a dangerously-quite voice, taking his core out.

"Desertrunner, launch!" Ashtail exclaimed. In response, Viron spun his Monsuno out. Beyal was quick to follow up with Glowblade—some instinct told him that Viron just…wasn't natural.

And finally, Roy exclaimed, "Seafox, launch!" The four cores collided in a multicolor flash of light.

Desrtrunner appeared to be a giant fennec-fox, except he had deer antlers on his head. Seafox, true to her name, looked like a fox with two things like antennae on her head, as well as a dorsal fin on the back of her neck, and webbed paws—not to mention the porpoise tail which was shaped like a crescent and wickedly bladed.

Viron's Monsuno was the _strangest_ thing Beyal had seen. He could see that it was part bear, but other than that…he didn't know. But Ashtail did, judging by his expression.

"Desertrunner, Ion Blast!" he ordered. His Monsuno gave a low growl, and an orb of plasmatic violet energy formed between its antlers. He blasted it at the black Monsuno—but it dodged quickly.

"Seafox, Magnet Barrage!" Roy shouted. Orbs of silvery-yellow energy formed around Seafox, which shot at Viron's Monsuno. Again it _tried_ dodging, but the orbs followed, colliding in bright flashes. Hence the name "_Magnet_ Barrage".

"Glowblade, Deadly Deluge!" Beyal said. The three-headed snake Monsuno sent the attack at the black Monsuno—direct blow.

But…how was it still standing?

Viron smiled slowly. "You all are such _idiots_." His smooth, oily-sounding voice turned into the scariest, most vicious snarl any of them had every heard. To his Monsuno, he said, "Finish this!"

His Monsuno began charging what looked like dark-purple energy in its mouth, and was about to fire—if it hadn't been intercepted by Glowblade. Viron's eyes narrowed, and then he vanished.

Or so they thought, for Beyal suddenly felt a clawed grip on his throat. "I get it…you're Imari's little brat, aren't you?" Viron hissed. Beyal couldn't reply—Viron was cutting off his airflow.

"Let go of him you creep!" Jinja shrieked, flinging herself at him. Dax and Chase both followed up, but Viron shrugged them off like moths.

His vision was swimming now, fading to black. Beyal thought it was over for him…until a large, gray-furred wolf wearing a red Division scarf with the lieutenant badge smashed into him. The impact caused his grip to loosen, and Beyal scrambled away, gasping for breath. "Are you okay, Beyal?" Chase's father asked. The white-haired teen nodded mutely, calling his Monsuno back.

Viron's dark-blue eyes gleamed. "So you've shown your true colors, eh Ashtail? I remember you as an apprentice in SandFang."

To their shock, the wolf _said_, "Shut up," in Ashtail's voice—it _was_ Ashtail!

"Bah…keep the crystal. We don't really need it anyways," Viron said. There was a bluish-black flash of light, and Viron was gone, leaving a dark chill in the air.

The gray wolf scanned the area, sniffing, and sighed. There was a flash of light, and suddenly the Ashtail they knew was standing there. "Ugh…definitely gonna get reprimanded now," he said with a half-hearted smirk.

"Ashtail, how the crag did you do that?!" Chase asked, sounding as shocked as Beyal felt.

"I'll explain later…let's get out of here. I don't trust Viron's words."

* * *

Imari was silent. _So the wolf's finally out of the den…I had a feeling it'd come out eventually._ "Cyril, Saurian, what do you think I should do?" she asked.

The green-haired man adjusted his glasses. "Well…we probably should have let all the inhabitants known first-off," he said.

Cyril nodded. "That seems like the only plausible option now," she said.

The first Elemental Guardian closed her eyes. _My son was almost killed by Viron…that does it—I'm giving him personal lessons. After the announcement, of course._


	11. Chapter X: Truth 真実

**Okay, this chapter should clear up one person's question. Also, here's something about the authoress (AKA me): I only write when the Sledgehammer of Inspiration tells me to. Other than that...I'll just be staring at the keyboard for an hour. ~Myra  
**

* * *

Charlemagne didn't bother looking up when she heard the door open—no need to risk getting into an embarrassing situation if it was Darkshade. She'd already been teased about it by a few of these "Division members". She'd also seen the white-haired rogue controller every now and then—he seemed to be purposely avoiding them. No surprise.

Although she couldn't help but look up when someone waved a hand in her face while saying "_Helllooo!_" Said person was a white-haired woman with the brightest-green eyes she'd ever seen. She also looked vaguely familiar…

"You three look much better," the unfamiliar person went on. "I actually wasn't sure myself if you'd make it or not."

"Um…who are you?" Noah asked.

Blank look for a few moments. Then: "Oh right! My name's Imari…I'm the Captain-Commander of the Elementals. In other words, I'm the leader."

"So can we leave now?" Trey instantly asked.

Imari frowned a bit. "_Well_…that's the complicated part."

"Vhat do you mean by zhat?" Charlemagne asked.

"We have a rule here, see. Anyone we find with a Monsuno on them…has to stay."

It took a few moments for that to sink in. Then both Charlemagne and Trey shouted "_What?!_" at the same time. Imari put her hands up slightly.

"Sorry, it's a rule." And as if she knew what Charlemagne was going to say then—namely who exactly she was—the so-called Captain-Commander said, "I already know who you are as well, Commandant-Marshal Charlemagne. To tell you the truth, I'm not exactly fond of things you've done." She shook her head as she said this. "Once all three of you have fully recovered, you'll be moved to the _uquírak_, and be assigned to Divisions."

She regarded the two glares she got from the Commander and Commandant-Marshal, and the neutral look from Noah.

Then she stunned them by suddenly grinning. "So, want me to show you around later? After I get a super-important announcement done?"

They didn't know how to reply.

* * *

All was silent. This was apparently the first time all _cvarī _and _secvareī_ had been called into the plaza in front of Imari's command building. Not just them, either, from what Jinja noted. She also saw the three from STORM, accompanied by Lieutenant Lilinette, who looked…anxious. She also noted the three later were in _secvareī_ uniforms—and they didn't look too happy, either. Obviously someone had broken the news to them—since they had Monsunos, they had to stay.

Everyone looked up when Imari appeared at her stand, along with the other Captains (along with Snowwing) on other pedestals that may have had statues at once point…but one pedestal was vacant, which had Jinja puzzled.

The Captain-Commander then spoke. "_Cvaraī _and _secvareī_! I suppose you're all wondering why I've called this assembly." Dead silence. Imari blinked, and continued. "To tell you all the truth, I and the other captains have been…hiding something from you all, concerning our true identities."

It hit Jinja like Charger's Power Bash. _She's going to tell everyone that they're the Elemental Guardians!_ No sooner did Jinja finish her thought…did Imari say a few things in Lupian with some kind of affliction—one she couldn't quite understand.

Close by, she saw Ashtail—who for some reason hadn't gotten in trouble at all—stiffen for a few moments, and nod slowly. And off to the side, she saw Lilinette look surprised.

What happened then had most of the _cvaraī _and_ secvareī _in shock. There were eight flashes of light on the pedestal, and eight winged wolves stood where the Captains and Captain-Commander had been.

She knew what Wavewhisker had looked like already—it was the others she was more focused on. Darkshade's fur was the same raven-black as his hair, and his markings were the same color as his eyes. She glanced to the side—Charlemagne's expression was _hilarious_.

Featherbreeze had cream-yellow fur and silver eyes instead of hazel, as well as silver markings. Snowwing had pure-white fur and sky-blue markings. Moeru was whitish-red with crimson markings. Saurian was dark-green with lighter-green markings—his glasses had mysteriously vanished as well. Cyril was ice-blue with aquamarine markings. And Imari…she was an even brighter-white than Snowwing, with bright-yellow markings and green stripes on her wings, like her eyes.

Then came Part Two of the shock. She saw that not only had Ashtail gone into his wolf form…but so had Lilinette—who she thought was _normal_! The Elite—Noah, from what she'd overheard—yelped at the same time as Trey.

She looked around. There were now…quite a few wolves here and there, even among the _cvaraī_. One in particular was a pale-yellow wolf wearing a silver scarf, with sky-blue eyes.

Jinja zoned out during Imari's speech on who _exactly_ they were and where they were from—she and her friends had heard it already. Instead she turned her mind to something else.

_Those three are wearing _secvareī _uniforms…I sure hope none of them get put into the 7th Division. I don't know _what_ I'll do then!_

Imari's next announcement shocked the heck out of her. "We also have a _secvareīken _to perform."

* * *

First thing Beyal did when h had free time was ask Darkshade if he could see Imari. There was something he _desperately_ needed to know.

His mother looked up in surprise when he came in. "Beyal? What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. I merely need to know something," he replied.

"Like what?"

He took a deep breath before asking, "Why was I left at the Library of Tebab?"

The white-haired woman frowned. "You didn't like it there?"

Beyal's gray eyes widened. "Oh, no! I was very happy there. At least, until…"

"Until what?"

In response, he explained what had occurred involving the Bookman. Imari's green eyes narrowed to slits. "Beyal, you let me worry about that," she said. "Or…more precisely, let Saurian worry about it. He's the one who built the library in the first place, anyhow." At Beyal's incredulous look, she laughed. "What? Saurian _is_ the bookwolf, after all." And then she suddenly turned serious. "As for why I left you at the library…well, there was a lot of stuff going on both before and after you were born. You've hard the story of Snowwing defeating a powerful demon, right?"

"Yes…"

She looked out the window. **(Cue music: www. youtube watch?v= G8HLtY qmpo0)** "The demon's name is Kurayami." Beyal could have sworn that a chill entered the room. "Kurayami is a powerful wolf-demon, almost equal to your half-sister in power."

It took Beyal a few moments to remember—Cyril was Imari's daughter. Therefore, his half-sister. When Imari gestured to a chair, he sat down.

"Continuing," the Captain-Commander said. "Kurayami seeks to control the Wolf Kingdom—my and the other Guardians' and wolves' homeworld. And since Viron has shown his ugly mug here, it means that his master—Kurayami—has taken interest in this one as well. Most likely because of the Monsunos. Viron had a core with him, correct?" **(End music)**

"Yes, he did."

Imari nodded slowly. "Alright." She quickly wrote a note and handed it to him. "Give this to Darkshade when you get back, okay?" He nodded. She smiled. "Alright then. Off you go."

* * *

That evening, a thunderstorm raged over the coastline of the desert. Standing on a rocky outcropping were three people.

One was a woman with dark-green hair, eyes an even darker shade, and wearing a green cloak, as well as glasses. Another was Viron. The last was a black haired man with white eyes, although his scleras were black. All three had slitted pupils.

"So, you not only failed to obtain the Pure Crystal, but you also failed to kill the boy," the white-eyed man said, examining a sword.

"Yes My Lord," Viron muttered.

"You do realize that you had a chance to kill three birds with one stone—we could have had the ticket for taking my counterpart's goody-goody organization out, captured Jeredy Suno, _and_ have put that miserable Prophecy of the Five out of commission!"

"Aware of that, My Lord."

The man snarled before saying, "What of you, Jinshi?"

The woman glanced at him, adjusting her light-green glasses. "I say we just wait and see how things play out. We've already begun the process of releasing our Master. Maybe we'll have a chance to, say, offer one of the so-called Five as a host for Master Kurayami? What do you think, Lord Kirin?"

Kirin paused. Then he smiled, showing fangs. "Yes…you're right, Jinshi. We can just wait for the Five to come to us looking for a fight, and before they know it one of their own would be under the control of Master Kurayami!"

* * *

Chase was surprised the next morning. Cyril was waiting by the door, tapping her foot. "Um, Captain?" he asked. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Actually, yes," she said without looking at him. "Believe it or not, I decided to take on another _secvara_. It was fun having one around…since you're of _secvareī_ status now, Chase."

"Right." He couldn't help but adjust his new _secvareī_ scarf—instead of being plain light-blue, it now had a silver lining to it. As did the others'…except for Beyal's, who also had some gold on his.

"Another _secvara_?" Roy asked, yawning as he came out of his room. "Who?"

"You'll see," the second Elemental Guardian replied cryptically. Then she perked up when the door opened. "There you are. Right on time."

Chase looked—and paled slightly. _Oh no…!_ Roy's eyebrows shot up, and he scratched the back of his head. "Wow…" he said. "This is gonna be awkward."

The _secvara_ looked just as shocked. And why would it be awkward?

It was Charlemagne.


End file.
